Treyburn workshop will help plan tract

DURHAM -- More than 700 people have been invited to a Saturday workshop to help plan the future development of Treyburn, and the door is open for even more, organizers say.

The list so far numbers about 60 people, including residents, planners, elected officials and environmental groups, but organizers say the general public is welcome, too.

The future of the massive residential and business development near Falls Lake in northeastern Durham County jumped to center stage this spring. In April, D.R. Bryan, president of Bryan Properties of Holly Springs, bought the 1,160-acre Horton Grove tract on the northeastern edge of Treyburn and unveiled plans to build a mixed-use subdivision similar to his Southern Village development in Chapel Hill.

Bryan plans to build at least 1,600 homes on the site, but he has suggested increasing that to as many as 5,000 if a planned regional mass transit line is extended to the area.

Bryan said he would use information from the planning session to help determine what kind of development to pursue, including how many homes to build.

Those who want to attend should call 620-0002 or send an e-mail to info@treyburn.com by Wednesday.

"We're really hoping that people will come and say what they want," said Rosemary Waldorf, a former Chapel Hill mayor whose public relations firm is working on the project. "A lot of people with expertise are coming who can really contribute.

"And one thing that's significant about this planning process is that something is going to happen. A traditional neighborhood development or rural village -- we don't know quite what to call it -- is going to happen out there. ? It's really not just an exercise."

Durham Area Designers, a volunteer group of architects and planners, will help run the workshop.

Participants will be divided into groups of about eight to 10 to consider what and how much to build and how to integrate environmental and cultural amenities in the area, such as the old Indian Trading Path, into the project.

Bryan has said he is happy with the current zoning of the property, which would allow 1,684 homes. But he has said that if a mass transit line -- perhaps a regional rail link along an existing rail corridor to the area -- was planned to connect the area with downtown Durham, he would consider pushing for as many as 5,000 homes. That would make the project the largest single development in Durham's history. Bryan said such density could make sense, particularly considering the homes' proximity to Treyburn corporate park.

With that many units, the project would dwarf most Durham subdivisions, including a planned but dormant 2,700-home community that was approved in 2001 for Village Creek in eastern Durham.

The Treyburn planning workshop will run from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Treyburn Country Club, on Old Trail Drive off Orange Factory Road and the Treyburn Parkway. Lunch will be provided.